Nutrition is the study of the human dependence on its environment. We cannot sustain ourselves; we must obtain a diverse blend of macro- and micro-nutrients from the Earth. We cannot synthesize our own oxygen, sulfur, iron, vitamin C, cobalt, etc., so we need to source it from outside ourselves (exogenous). Nutrients can be sources from a variety of places: oxygen from air, vitamin K from microbes in our gut, vitamin D from the sun. We are parasites of the planet.
Essential nutrients are those molecules and minerals that are necessary for human health but that we cannot produce. Some nutritional deficiencies cause dysfunction (low iodine impairs thyroid function) while others nutritional deficiencies can death (vitamin C deficiency causes people to bleed to death). There are a long list of vitamins (vit A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, folate, vit C, D, E, etc.) and minerals (Na, K, Fe, Mg, Li, Ca, Cl, Mn, etc.) on this [ever-expanding] list of essential nutrients. More essential nutrients will be recognized over time.
Conditionally essential nutrients are those nutrients that are needed by some people, some of the time. A young, healthy person might be able to produce enough, but once you start aging and having intestinal inflammation and family stress and a few bad habits and a couple diagnoses, nutritional requirements change! The medical profession acknowledges that pregnant women need more folate and burn victims need more protein, and tobacco smokers need more vitamin C. With the exception of dopamine deficiency, little research has been done to describe the unique nutritional needs of the Parkinson community.
It my opinion that there are conditionally essential nutrients in some-to-most people with PD. In this course I'll describe how deficiencies of glutathione, dopamine, melatonin, lithium, vitamin C, omega-3 fatty acids, and coenzyme Q-10 can be identified and treated.
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Your Instructor
Dr. Mischley has spent the past two decades studying the unique nutritional requirements of people with Parkinsonism and working to find better ways to measure, monitor, predict, and prevent PD. Her academic training is in naturopathic medicine (ND), nutrition (PhD), and epidemiology (MPH). She built the Parkinson Symptom Tracking App (www.pd-symptoms.com), has trained dogs to detect the scent of parkinsonism in ear wax (ParK-9.com), is lead investigator of the MVP-Study.com, and is founder of the Parkinson Center for Pragmatic Research (CPR). She created Parkinson-School.com in 2020 as a way to empower patients, accelerate education and catalyze some long overdue conversations.